Madoka Magica Drama CD 3: Farewell Story

"It’s not as if I wished for us to become rich or anything like that, but rather, I wished for people to start to listening to my father. I mean, it’s just so frustrating! They would just ignore him and look down on him." - Kyoko Sakura.

A Drama CD that came with the fifth DVD volume of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The official title for this Drama CD is "Farewell Story".

Contents

The story takes place before the events in the anime. This is the story of how Kyoko met Mami for the first time, how she became a proficient fighter, and what lead to Kyoko's disillusionment with her naive ideals. We are also introduced to Kyoko's happy family before their tragic demise.

Madoka and Sayaka have a brief conversation with Kyoko for the first time, but their dialogue is never face to face so they are strangers to each other until their formal meeting in Episode 5.

Kyoko saves Madoka and Sayaka from a Witch's labyrinth. This is from a period of time when she still had a family and hadn't become selfish and cynical.

The events take place before the beginning of Episode 1, and seem to be taking place in the main timeline of the events from the anime, with a distracted Kyoko reminiscing her own past while Homura chatters her plan to defeat Walpurgis Night.

The Drama CD indicates that Madoka and Sayaka are in Class 1A, perhaps indicating they're first years (a possible indicator that the events are taking place approximately one year before the anime events, give or take).

The timelines diverge on the day when Homura wakes up in the hospital, so events prior to that are unaffected by her resets.

We do not know the exact date when Kyoko and Mami met for the first time (but it is suggest it was the year before). The day when Homura wakes up from the hospital is March 16, if the events are taking place prior to that date then they wouldn't be affected by the resets. The likelihood that the events in the Drama CD are taking place after March 16 is small and unlikely.

If the events in the Drama CD are taking place prior to the anime series, then this could be considered to be a "short prequel".

"Puella Magi Kyoko/Mami Magica" would make an awesome OVA.

Kyoko narrates that she had been a Puella Magi for a year before she met Mami.

After the death of Kyoko's family, Kyoko no longer has her illusory powers. Kyoko becomes disillusioned and loses her ideals, resulting in an argument with Mami over familiars. She wants to leave because they no longer share the same values, but Mami tries to stop her and they end up in a battle. Kyoko wins leaving the defeated Mami in tears, crying over being all alone once more.

Kyoko's secondary power is only heard in this drama CD, it was originally described in a Megami interview as something that didn't make it into the anime: Because she got her wish of "getting people to listen" while in fact it was something like charming or hallucination, she got the magic power related to those things. However, because she lost her family, she totally negated those power with her subconscious mind. As a result, she fought only with the magic power she learnt later.

Kyoko is forever alone, again. Dammit, Urobuchi.

In the final scene, Homura asks for Kyoko's help in defeating Walpurgisnacht, similar to the anime.

It is difficult to tell if this scene is taking place during Timeline 5 but it is likely that it is.

While Homura discusses her battle plans, Kyouko reminisces her days with Mami and how they used to go over their tactics.

The shrieking of Witches in this Drama CD is disturbing once you know the truth about Witches.

The first original witch from a Drama CD to remain nameless, (there is no official name that is known of).

Momo may be named after the title character of Magical Princess Minky Momo, an early magical girl series. Although he claimed it wasn't an inspiration for Madoka, Producer Atsuhiro Iwakami hasstated that he was fond of the show. It's also notable that the title character of Minky Momo actually died in a car accident (but was reincarnated).

We finally get to hear the voices of Kyoko's family; her father, her mother, and her little sister.

The names of dubbing artists for Kyoko's family are not disclosed officially. However, some fans guess that Kyoko's father is voiced by Banjou Ginga; Kyoko's mother is voiced by Kikuko Inoue(?); and Kyoko's little sister, Momo, is voiced by Mami Shitara.

The first witch to appear in the story may be a reference to the "Minotaur" in ancient Greek mythology. Some fans speculate that the girl who turned into this witch is an illegitimate daughter.

The Minotaur is also located within a labyrinth, it was constructed by Daedalus to hold the creature inside.

Coincidentally in the Greek mythology, Theseus was able to defeat the Minotaur with the help of the princess of Crete and a ball of twine (trivia: the word "clew" means a ball of yarn, hence the origin of the word "clue"). In the Drama CD, Kyoko was able to defeat the witch with the help of Mami (a Puella Magi with the power of ribbons) and her advice (or a clue, per say) to strike the real witch's body; all of this took place inside a labyrinth. The similarities, of course, are purely coincidental.

This is perhaps overreaching but: after Theseus defeated the minotaur he set sail back home with his *ahem* bride to be; but before he could reach home his father, Aegeus, committed suicide believing his son was dead/failed.

The witch's axe could be a reference to the Minoan Labrys, it is a symmetrical doubleheaded axe originally from Crete, it is one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization. According to archaeological finds on Crete this double-axe was used specifically by Minoan priestesses for ceremonial uses and it was considered to be one the holiest symbols in Minoan religion. Unlike the Near East, this axe is never held by a male divinity, only by female divinities and her priestesses. Some suggest that the shape of the Labrys is reminiscent of a butterfly rather than an axe, an interpretation of the mother goddess symbol. Other suspect that the two curved edges of the axe are indicating the waxing and waning phases on either side of a full moon.

The word labyrinthos (Mycenaean daburinthos) is probably connected with the word labrys. In the Linear B (Mycenean Greek) script a symbol similar to a double-axe represents the phonetic sign a. In the context of the Classical Greek myth of Theseus, the labyrinth of Greek mythology is frequently associated with the Minoan palace of Knossos and has a long tradition of use that extends before any written records explain the traditions.

Incidentally, in Mesopotamian culture a bull's horn is connected to the crescent moon.

The bull is often associated with fertility rituals and beliefs.

To the Egyptians, the constellation Taurus was a sacred bull that was associated with the renewal of life in spring.

Because the Drama CD also came with a duet character song of Kyoko and Sayaka (not to mention the Blu-ray version of Episode 9), yuri fans are wondering if this is a blatant attempt at a love triangle.

Everything in the following fan gallery is created, or the comments accompanying them are created, for entertainment value and should not be confused with actual canon events of the Puella Magi franchise.

With a sis like this...

Kyoko being an awesome sister.

Will their meeting blossom into an everlasting friendship?

Kyoko testing out her new magical ability on Mami.

As soon as the Drama CD was out, it was just only a matter of time fans would validate their fanart.